94 replies to this topic

[Triton]

Well if you are talking exclusively of the James Bond films, The Living Daylights does represent a change in direction to a tougher and grittier James Bond film that is more like the character described in the Ian Fleming novels and is not comedic like Sean Connery's Diamonds Are Forever or the Roger Moore entries in the series. Even though the effort was made to toughen Roger Moore's character beginning with For Your Eyes Only.

The problem that I have with The Living Daylights is that the film has a truly excellent first half, but a weak second half. I was intrigued and excited with the story that occurred in Gibralter, Bratislava, the Bladden safe house, and Vienna. But the third and fourth acts of the film, when Bond and others travel to Afghanistan and Morroco are weak in comparison. So the film ends on a low note instead of a high one. The climax of the film needs to be the most exciting part of the film! Unfortunately, in the The Living Daylights the defection of Georgy Koskov is the high point of the film, its most exciting and dramatic part! Also the kidnapping of Koskov by Necros is also a very exciting sequence. The infiltration of Whittaker's house in Tangiers the finale of the film is very weak and not very exciting in comparison. Richard Maibaum and Micheal G. Wilson really should have constructed the script so that they ended the film with a very dramatic and exciting action sequence.

[Jaelle]

I agree that the second half isn't as exciting as the first half, but I do think that the confrontation between Bond and Pushkin, plus the scene between Kara and Bond in the hotel room are great, tense scenes. Plus in Afghanistan, I do love that romantic scene at the fort between Kara and Bond. But it's mainly after Kara's betrayal of Bond that, for me, the film starts getting weaker.

[Johnboy007]

I dont consider The Living Daylights a classic, probably never will, Die Another Day fits that mold too

I've surpassed Hank Aaron in post totals

Edited by johnboy007, 11 January 2004 - 11:14 PM.

[Bondian]

DAD and TLD's are two totally different Bond Flick's.

Like to the song "open the door Richard" , DAD is like the opposite song "don't shut the door on me Dick"!.

I know, it doesn't make sense, but nor did DAD!.


All the best,

Cheers,


Ian

[Methos]

Upon seeing this topic, I was immediately reminded of a post made by a long time personal friend (and fellow Bond fan), at another Bond message board. The topic in question involved ranking the Bond films from favorite to least favorite. My dear friend listed his rankings and stopped at 16!!! In his view, the Bond films since LTK, have been absolute rubbish. I, personally, would not go so far as to make this assertion. Yet, I sympathize with the spirit of his contention. I personally enjoyed GE and TWINE, though I strongly feel that both are inferior to TLD. I'll admit it, I have a bias for Dalton; as I contend that he portrayed Bond in a manner truest to Fleming's original literary incarnation. As Brosnan goes, DAD, if not for it's very promising first hour, would hardly be worth mentioning! DAD, because of the travesty of the film's last hour, is amongst my least favorite Bond films.

In contrast, TLD shall long be remembered as the film that brought Bond back to his literary roots. Despite some difficulties in pacing during the Afghanistan sequences, it's a truly superlative Bond film. I believe I saw TLD at least 10 times in the theater!! Personally, no other Bond film has induced such a desire for repeated viewings. It's been alluded that an appreciation for Dalton's portrayal of Bond has grown over the years. Not too long ago, I was surprised to hear from a young woman in her early 20s; who related to me that Timothy Dalton was her favorite Bond. I asked her why that was so. She told me that TLD had been the first Bond film she had ever seen in theaters and Dalton simply became the very embodiment of Bond in her mind. Over time, I suspect that the TLD, not DAD, will stand out amongst film audiences and critics as the better film.